


A Rainy Thursday Afternoon Can Change Everything

by DaringlyDomestic



Series: Tumblr Ficlets [18]
Category: Sherlock (TV)
Genre: tw for brief mentions of bullying, tw for mentions of death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-09
Updated: 2016-06-09
Packaged: 2018-07-14 01:21:42
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 803
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7146323
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DaringlyDomestic/pseuds/DaringlyDomestic
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>I met Sherlock Holmes on a rainy Thursday afternoon. I had been searching for my purpose when that whirlwind of energy and curls blazed through my life, changing it forever. We became fast friends and did everything together.</p><p>Mycroft was always looking over Sherlock’s shoulder as if he didn’t trust me to keep him safe and happy. I have to admit, that kind of stung. Sherlock’s happiness was the goal of my entire life. Surely, Mycroft must have known that. In retrospect, I’m sure he did and that was why he kept a weathered eye. He knew it couldn’t last.</p><p>I was not yet aware.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Rainy Thursday Afternoon Can Change Everything

**Author's Note:**

> This is a sad one everybody. Fair Warning. Don't say you weren't told.

I met Sherlock Holmes on a rainy Thursday afternoon. I had been searching for my purpose when that whirlwind of energy and curls blazed through my life, changing it forever. We became fast friends and did everything together.

Mycroft was always looking over Sherlock’s shoulder as if he didn’t trust me to keep him safe and happy. I have to admit, that kind of stung. Sherlock’s happiness was the goal of my entire life. Surely, Mycroft must have known that. In retrospect, I’m sure he did and that was why he kept a weathered eye. He knew it couldn’t last.

I was not yet aware.

Over the course of our friendship, Sherlock grew and changed so much. Brooding, gangly, guarded Sherlock was no longer the bright-eyed, bouncing boy he had been. But there was always a smile and hug for me, even when I could see the ghosts of the taunting and beating he had taken that day in his haunted features. Especially then.

On those nights, we would sneak out of bed and lay out under the stars. The deep unknowable expanse seemed to give him comfort. I think it reminded him of possibility. Of places or people, lightyears away from here, that might accept him for who he is. We would spend hours out there. Sherlock never got tired of pointing out the constellations to me and telling me their stories. It was always amazing to me, the secrets written in the stars.

Sometimes we stayed out there ‘til sunrise, but we were always careful to sneak back inside before Mummy could notice we weren’t in our room.

Soon the day came when Sherlock left for University. I hadn’t seen him glow like that in years. He was excited and open. It made me incredibly happy to see him like that again. Alight with new possibilities.

Of course, I was often lonely that year, with only Mummy for company, but I didn’t want Sherlock to know that. He was off learning and doing and thriving, as he should be. I often pictured him as Sirius, the brightest star blazing across the night sky. Still, I couldn’t help being overly excited at the prospect of Christmas break.

Sherlock was coming home! I stretched out in the tall grass covering the front yard and waited all morning. As soon as I heard Father’s car puttering back up the road, I was up like a shot. I am a little embarrassed to admit that I practically bounced with excitement.

But something was wrong.

I knew it straight away. Sherlock’s face didn’t light up with happiness to see me and there were no hugs. In fact, he barely even noticed me. He looked so much thinner than when he had left. I was worried. Father carried his bags into the house and Sherlock followed dutifully.

That was not a happy Christmas. Mummy spent most of it in tears while Father and Mycroft took turns yelling. But the worst part was the unchanging blankness of Sherlock’s face. He neither reacted nor responded to any of it. I was beside myself and didn’t know what to do. I made sure to stick close to him the whole break, not that he really noticed. I think the proximity comforted me more than him.

But I was rewarded with a desultory ruffling of my hair as Sherlock was carted back to school.

I didn’t know what to do after that. I spent many days looking out the window in the hopes that Sherlock would come back, but I feared that he was well and truly gone.

Not long after that disastrous Christmas, I got sick. It was not an uncommon occurrence, but it was annoying. However, this illness didn’t fade with time and as my hair grew thin and my breathing grew ragged, I realized what was happening.

Soon, the snow thawed and turned to bright bursts of spring color. Mycroft arrived home first, of course. Sherlock made some excuse about delayed final examinations. I didn’t blame him. He couldn’t know.

Three days after Mycroft returned, I knew it was over. I padded into his room and curled up on his comforter. His shaky breath was all I needed to know that he understood. He and I had never been close but he held me then. He held me tight in his arms and cried. I looked him in the eye to make sure he understood that Sherlock’s happiness was his duty now. That I couldn’t do it anymore.

He nodded and whispered into my fur, “Don’t you worry about him, Redbeard. I’ll always take care of him.”

I sighed with relief and closed my eyes as I nudged my nose under his chin. For all his flaws, I never doubted Mycroft. My Sherlock would be looked after.

_Always_


End file.
